Obando Fertility Rites

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The Obando Fertility Rites and Dance monument in front of the Town hall of Obando, Bulacan.

The Obando Fertility Rites[1] is a Filipino dance ritual. Every year during the month of May, to the tune of musical instruments made out of bamboo materials, the men, women and children of Obando, Bulacan, Philippines wear traditional dance costumes to dance on the streets followed by the images of their patron saints San Pascual Baylon (St. Paschal), Santa Clara (St. Clare) and Nuestra Señora de Salambao (Our Lady of Salambao), while singing the song Santa Clara Pinung-Pino.

Festivities

Among the fiesta participants in the fertility dance are outsiders from other towns in the Philippines; most are asking the patron saints for a son or a daughter, a husband or a wife or good fortune. They dance on the streets as a form of a religious procession primarily in order for the spirit of life to enter into the wombs of women. This is the magic and mystery of Obando, Bulacan.

The feast days are held for three consecutive days with dancing: 17 May for St. Paschal, 18 May for St. Clare and 19 May for the Our Lady of Salambao.

The Philippine national hero, José Rizal, mentioned this fertility dance ritual in his 1887 Spanish novel, Noli Me Tángere (Chapter 6: Captain Tiago).

The feast usually starts in the morning of 17 May, with Mass led by the current parish priest. Afterwards, the procession of the three Saints will follow, followed by the dancing of the devotees and the musical band. This continues for the duration of the festival, with the image of the particular Patron Saint of the day leading the procession.

The patron saints

Saint Clare

St. Clare is the oldest patron saint of Obando, Bulacan. She was the first saint to be enshrined at the chapel built by the Franciscan missionaries in Catanghalan, the old name of Obando Town.

St. Clare was a nun in Assisi, Italy, during the 13th century, who founded a congregation known as the Poor Clares based on the devotional teachings of St. Francis of Assisi. St. Clare has been considered the patron saint of good weather because her Spanish name meant the brightening of the skies after a season of storms, which later became the basis why the residents of Obando, Bulacan, believed in offering eggs at the base of the altar of St. Clare to pray for good weather. Eggs are offered to St. Clare because her name also means claro (albumen) in Spanish.

The introduction of St. Clare by the Spanish Franciscan missionaries as a replacement for the pagan gods of the ancient Filipinos resulted in the transformation of the old Kasilonawan ritual into the offering of the fandango or dance for St. Clare to prevent women from becoming barren. This transformation from pagan rituals to Christian ceremonies enhanced the conversion of Filipinos to Catholicism.

Eventually, St. Clare became the pilgrim's patron saint of an individual who would like to request for a mate and to bear children, female babies in particular.

Lyrics of the song or novena to St. Clare

  • "Santa Clarang pinong-pino / Ako po ay bigyan mo / Ng asawang labintatlo / Sa gastos 'di magreklamo!"
  • (English translation: "Saint Clare, most refined / Upon me please bestow / Spouses thirteen in all / As for the expense, I won't complain!")
  • A variation: "Santa Clarang pinong-pino / Ang pangako ko ay ganito / Pagdating ko sa Obando / Sasayaw ako ng pandanggo."
  • (English translation: "Saint Clare, most refined / My promise is as such / When I arrive at Obando / I shall dance the fandango.")

St. Paschal

During the 18th century, after the founding of Obando, Bulacan, as a Spanish municipality, the Franciscan missionaries built a church. At that time St. Paschal, or San Pascual Baylon, was introduced to Obando, Bulacan. Like St. Clare, he also became the patron saint of fertility, wealth and abundance. St. Paschal's surname, Baylon, was taken to mean "one who likes dancing", ultimately derived from the Spanish word bailar, the verb form of "dance".

There is an anecdote about a miracle St. Paschal worked that tells of a childless couple from the neighbouring town of Hagonoy, Bulacan. They encountered a crab vendor who recommended that the couple to go to Obando to participate in the mid-May dance ritual in order to ameliorate their condition. Upon arrival at the Obando Church, the couple was stunned when they discovered that the face of the image of St. Paschal inside the church looked exactly like the face of the crab vendor they had met earlier. This story forms the basis for St. Paschal's patronage of childless couples who wish to have children, particularly male babies.

Our Lady of Salambao

On 19 June 1763, the image of Our Lady of Salambao, also known by the long title "Our Lady of Immaculate Conception of Salambao", was also introduced to Obando, Bulacan. Local legend narrates that three fishermen named Juan, Julian, and Diego dela Cruz caught the Virgin Mary's image in their salambaw, a fishing net supported with bamboo crosspieces and mounted on a raft. They were fishing at a place known as Hulingduong, Binwangan, part of Tambobong (now Malabon), and when they decided to bring the image to the neighbouring town of Navotas, their boat suddenly grew heavy and immobile. When they eventually decided to bring the image to Obando, their boat quickly lightened and became easy to paddle. This was taken a sign that the Virgin wanted her image deposited in the high altar of the Obando church, where it remains enshrined as the local patroness of fishermen and of good harvest.

Ban and revival after World War II

During World War II, the church and a large portion of Obando were ravaged by fire and included among the damaged properties were the images of the three patron saints. A few years after the war, the Archbishop of Manila and the Obando parish priest forbade the practise of the fertility dance due to its pagan origins. During this prohibition, normal religious processions were still conducted but without the lively street dancing.

In 1972, parish priest Rev. Fr. Rome R. Fernández and the Komisyon ng Kalinangan (Commission on Culture of Obando) helped in removing the ban on the ancient tradition and revived its practise, which still continues to this day.

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Sayaw Obando." (Fertility Dance), Obando, Bayang Pinagpala! (Obando, Blessed Town!), Pamahalaang Bayan ng Obando (Local Government of Obando), 2006/2007

Bibliography

External links and further readings

Province of Bulacan
Municipalities
Component cities
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